Tag Archives: Clutch

We get a call everyonce in a while from a customer thats installed a clutch in their 95-05 Neon, Neon SRT-4, or Cobalt, about their clutch slipping that they just installed.

Even though paperwork is sent along with the clutch that states a 500 mile break in period is ABSOLUTELY neccesary, along with us telling customers on the phone of the 500 mile break in period at time of purchase, we get this type of call way more often than Id like.

So, to stress it here again, its very important to break in your new clutch properly for 500 miles.

Im not talking about hopping in your Neon/Neon SRT-4/Cobalt and driving to see your grandmother a few states over, Im talking about, good, daily driving, lots of clutch engagement/disengagement driving. You can slip the clutch, and shift it through all the gears as much as you want, but do not apply more than 35-40% throttle, and do NOT FLOOR the car.

If you dont, the friction material inside your clutch may not seat properly and you can have a slipping clutch. After youve spent good money on a clutch, and paid for someone to install it, or installing it yourself, nothing can be more frustrating. I know it can be REALLY hard to not drive your car aggresively or floor your car on the highway on ramp, or when the Honda boy next to you wants to race, but its worth it in the long run to break in the clutch properly.

We’ve received a production unit of a Clutchmasters Caliber SRT4 clutch and are about to test it out in our project Caliber SRT4. We’ve worked with Clutchmasters to get them to build a Caliber SRT4 performance clutch. This is really exciting news, because this will be a MUCH more affordable replacement clutch for the Caliber that can hold serious power than the factory clutch!

Here are some pictures.

Now, for those of you who have seen Neon, and Neon SRT4 clutches before, your probably wondering, why does it look so thick?

Its because the Caliber SRT4 uses a dual mass flywheel, which is a high end design of clutch/flywheel that significantly dampens vibrations, spikes in power from the engine and drivetrain. Because of the dual mass flywheel, the overall assembly is VERY heavy. The Caliber SRT clutch assembly weighs in at 38 lbs, whereas most conventional Neon and Neon SRT4 clutches are about 30 lbs.

The clutch we have photos of above, which is a single, standard flywheel made out of aluminum weighs in at 26 lbs, or a whopping 12 lbs off the drivetrain. The 12 lb weight savings will really increase the cars performance and acceleration.

One thing thats also of interest, is that the original clutch and flywheel were produced with Mercedes stampings and part numbers. Take a look at the photos below of our stock clutch.

Now, we are going to start testing the clutch in our Caliber SRT4, and we’ll keep you guys updated with our testing results!